


Birthday Battles

by OleanderToxin



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Birthday Party, Commission fic, Cute kiddos being cute, F/M, Gen, This is Pre-Neck SU because I'm 3000 yrs behind, semi serious talks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-19
Updated: 2019-09-19
Packaged: 2020-10-21 13:29:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 841
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20694323
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OleanderToxin/pseuds/OleanderToxin
Summary: Late night video game chats get really real.  Connie and Steven have a chat and Steven has a slight realization.Commission for a friend.





	Birthday Battles

“Don't dodge me, cheater!” Connie's voice rang out as she quarter-circle-backed into a hard rushing strike at Steven's character, the two of them pressed close to one another on the floor of the loft.

“Not a cheater if you're good at it,” Steven chided back as he was able to double jump out of the way before countering with his own strike against her.

It was Connie's birthday, a blessed occasion and the two of them had pretty much worked themselves to near death, doing chores around Connie's home, and practically crawling on the ground, begging the Maheswaran's to allow Connie to stay over for the night as a part of her present from the Gems. Steven had blocked out the way he had pretty much groveled at their feet to get permission. Connie had a strict bedtime, and they couldn't stay up later than that, she had to sleep on the couch, rather than on the floor near Steven's bed, and she wasn't to have more than two slices of her cake that Steven had made her.

The cake was nearly finished off, with no help from Amethyst, and her curfew was two hours ago. The excitement of it all, the budding teenage rebellion, it was too much. They couldn't sleep now. They had video games to play.

Groaning as she threw her controller down into her lap, Connie glared at the screen as it signaled her loss for the third time in a row. “No fair, I'm totally better than you when we play online.”

“Such is life,” Steven grinned, bumping his shoulder into hers as he flipped through character select, picking another fighter.

“Y'know,” Connie lamented, as she chose her character, pressing the right shoulder button to cycle through alternate colors until she found the one she liked best. “I love this game, but don't you think that after all we've been through, the fighting isn't as exciting?”

The match started and Steven frowned at the statement, sending a hard punch with his character at Connie's fighter. “How do you mean?”

“Well, I know I'd much prefer actually sparring to watching someone else fight, don't you?” Connie's fighter strafed back as they dodged, landing a high kick on Steven's.

“I mean, I kinda dig them even more thanks to all that stuff. Makes me feel like a regular kid, y'know? Like my life isn't completely ruled by the weird turn of events that lead to my being.”

Connie grimaced at what he said, and leaned over to rest her head on his shoulder. “I guess I never thought of it that way. You got a point.” She continued to parry and counter Steven's moves in the game, and as it came down to the wire, the two sat in silence as they concentrated, the moves being blocked or dodged with expert skill.

“YES!!” Connie threw her arms up in the air as she managed to land the finishing blow on Steven's character. It was down to the wire, both of their health bars being just slivers of red, and the clock reading two seconds left in the match. “Awesome!”

“Aw, come on! I had it!” It was Steven's turn to groan, turning to rub his face into Connie's shoulder as he huffed, pushing the controller off his lap and onto the wooden loft floor.

“There, there, don't be sad.” Connie teased him, patting the thick mess of curls atop his head. She stretched, and looked down at her watch, pursing her lips. “I gotta get to bed. It's way past curfew, and I know for a fact mom will grill me about this when I get home.”

“All right... Oh, wait!” Steven jumped up as if he had forgotten something, rushing over to his dresser, pulling out a pile of clothes before he unpacked a neatly wrapped present in soft pink and blue paper. “Uh, I made you this... Well... We did. All of the Gems and I.”

Connie furrowed her brow in confusion as she stood and took it in both her hands, walking over to Steven's bed to sit before she began to carefully undo the wrapping paper. As she opened the present, her eyes went wide, tears pricking at the corners. “It's... Stunning.”

In her lap lay an oversized letterman, dark and light blue with a pink star patch on the back with the words “Crystal Gems” embroidered around it. “We couldn't really, uh, do much, but we got together and made you this for your birthday.” Steven smiled, sitting next to her as he placed a hand on her shoulder. “For you, it's your own knight outfit.”  
He could hardly react with how fast she turned to hug him, pulling him close as she squeezed tight, the jacket folded between them. “Thank you! I love it so much!”

Steven could only give a flustered smile as a wave of pink crept up his cheeks, and he hugged back, whispering so that only the two of them could hear it. “Me too. Happy birthday, Connie.”


End file.
